The present invention relates to voice-enabled transactions from a communications device.
Increases in technology allow communications devices, for example cellular telephones, to provide more than just wireless voice telephone service to a user. Cellular telephone users are able to use their cellular telephone to access the Internet, receive and send e-mail, perform transactions such as purchase stock or other items, etc. However, the Man-Machine Interface (MMI) provided by a cellular phone is rather rudimentary. This is due to limited size of the keypad and the display and makes it difficult to enter and view information (e.g., transaction information to purchase stock or other items) at the cellular telephone.
Some cellular telephones attempt to solve this problem by providing a speech, or voice MMI, where the information is recognized by the cellular telephone and then transmitted. However, such voice interfaces provide the user with the ability to perform only a small number of transactions.
In one aspect of the present invention, a method for performing voice-enabled transactions using a communications device includes receiving a voice transaction message at a server from the communications device, the voice transaction message being in one of a plurality of predetermined formats for carrying out a transaction. The voice transaction message is processed and the corresponding processed transaction message is generated for the transaction at the server. The processed transaction message is sent to the communications device, where correctness of the transaction message is verified. A verification message is sent to the server indicating one of processed transaction message correct and processed transaction message not correct. The verification message is processed at the server and the transaction is carried out where the verification message indicates that the transaction is correct.
In one form, a transaction complete message is sent from the server to the communications device after the transaction is carried out.
In another form, receiving the voice transaction message at the server from the communications device includes establishing a connection with the server using the communications device and utilizing the connection to generate the voice transaction message at the server. In a further form, utilizing the connection to generate the voice transaction message at the server includes generating the voice transaction message as a voice mail message at the server.
In yet another form, the plurality of predetermined formats each include at least one static component and at least one variable field for describing the transaction, and processing the voice transaction message and generating the corresponding processed transaction message for the transaction at the server includes performing voice recognition on the voice transaction message to generate a recognized message, and processing the recognized message to identify a first static component. The predetermined format which includes the identified first static component is selected, and the recognized message is processed using the selected predetermined format to determine a value of the at least one variable field. The corresponding processed transaction message is generated using the selected predetermined format and the determined value of the at least one variable field. In a further form, the predetermined format further comprises a second static component and the processing of the recognized message to identify the first static component further includes identifying the second static component, where the predetermined format including the first and second static components is selected. The recognized message is processed using the selected predetermined format to determine the value of the at least one variable field by determining a first location of the first static component of the recognized message, determining a second location of the second static component of the recognized message, and selecting information between the first and the second location of the recognized message as the value of the at least one variable field. In an alternate further form, where each of the plurality of predetermined formats include at least one static component and at least one variable field, the voice transaction message is processed by selecting one of the predetermined formats using the at least one static component and determining a value for the at least one variable field of the preselected format, and the processed transaction message is sent to the communications device by communicating the selected predetermined format and the determined value of the at least one variable field to the communications device. In a further form yet, verifying the correctness of the processed transaction message at the communications device includes displaying the determined value of the at least one variable field and the at least one static field included with the selected predetermined format.
In another form of this aspect of the invention, verifying the correctness of the processed transaction message at the communications device includes a voice verification of the processed transaction message at the communications device.
In another form, where the communications device is a cellular telephone, sending the processed transaction message to the communications device includes converting the processed transaction message to a Short Message Service (SMS) format, and utilizing a server""s Short Message Service to send the converted processed transaction message back to the cellular telephone.
In yet another form, carrying out the transaction where the verification message indicates that the transaction is correct includes transmitting information corresponding to the transaction from the server to a transaction service, and performing the transaction at the transaction service. In a further form, transmitting the information corresponding to the transaction from the server to the transaction service is done on the Internet.
In yet another form, the transaction is an e-commerce transaction.
In another form, the communications device is a wireless communications device. In a further form, the wireless communications device is a cellular telephone.
In another aspect of the invention, a server is provided for processing voice-enabled transactions from a communication device including a communications interface in communication with the communications device for receiving a voice transaction message generated at the communications device, the voice transaction message being in one of a plurality of predetermined formats for carrying out a transaction. A voice recognition processor is coupled to the communications interface for performing voice recognition on the voice transaction message to generate a recognized message. A controller operating under a program and in communication with the communications interface and the voice recognition processor, receives the recognized message, generates a corresponding processed transaction message for the transaction, and sends the processed transaction message to the communications device using the communications interface. The controller further receives a verification message from the communications device via the communications interface indicating one of processed transaction message correct and processed transaction message not correct, and carries out the transaction where the verification message indicates that the processed transaction message is correct.
In one form, the controller generates a transaction complete message indicating completion of the transaction, and sends the transaction complete message to the communications device via the communication interface.
In another form, the server further includes a memory coupled to the communications interface, the voice recognition processor, and the controller for storing the voice transaction message, the recognized message, and the plurality of predetermined formats. In a further form, where the plurality of predetermined formats include at least one static component and the at least one variable field for describing the transaction, the controller processes the recognized message by retrieving the recognized message from the memory, identifying a first static component of the recognized message, and selecting the predetermined format which includes the first static component, and processes the recognized message using the selected predetermined format to determine a value of the at least one variable field. The controller generates the corresponding processed transaction message for the transaction using the selected predetermined format and the determined value of the at least one variable field.
In another form, where the communications device is a cellular telephone, the server further includes a short message server processor in communication with the controller and the communications interface where the controller converts the processed transaction message to a short message servie format and sends the processed transaction message to the cellular telephone using the short message service processor and the communications interface.
In yet another form of this aspect, the server further includes a transaction interface in communication with the controller, where the controller establishes a connection with a transaction service using the transaction interface, and carries out the transaction by transmitting information corresponding to the transaction to the transaction service. In a further form, the transaction interface is a connection with the Internet and the transaction service is an Internet website.
In another form, the transaction is an e-commerce transaction.
In yet another form, the voice transaction message includes at least one static component and at least one variable field.